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Game Appearances

Leroy Smith is a character in the Tekken series of video games created by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Making his first appearance in Tekken 7, he is an American martial artist introduced as part of the third season pass, originally announced alongside Zafina during the EVO 2019 finals.

Leroy was made available on December 10, 2019.

Contents

Biography

Nearly a half century ago, a young boy named Leroy Smith lost his entire family to the violence in New York.

Many years passed...

Amidst Leroy's quest, a gang lord familiar with the old days informed Leroy that it was the Mishima Zaibatsu that was behind the war that tore the city apart a half a century ago. Surprised that the mega conglomerate currently waging a war to split the world in two was also responsible for the atrocities committed so long ago, Leroy nonetheless resolved to eradicate the corporation if it truly was behind all of the evils he had seen. To carry out his quest, he decided to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament, which was organized by the Mishima Zaibatsu itself.[2]

Personality

A humble and wise old man, Leroy is also insightful. After witnessing the death of his family and the ruin of his hometown, he trained in Wing Chun to bring down crime and restore order. He blames Heihachi Mishima, whose many actions brought misery to him and others, for the destruction of his family and beloved hometown. Presently, his only family is his dog Sugar, whom at times acts as his partner in battle. He is prone to mock his opponents for losing without putting up a proper fight.

Appearance

Leroy has white dreads similar to Eddy but with gold jewelry adorning some of the dreads. Much like Jinpachi and Heihachi (since Tekken 3), Leroy remains muscular at his age. He also has a mustache and beard, similar to Marduk's, and also has a dragon tattoo on his right arm and as well as tattoos of rings on his thumbs. Leroy appears to be blind in his right eye, although he is mostly seen with his eyes obscured by a pair of black sunglasses.

Outfits

Leroy's main outfit consists of a long white jacket and red bottoms. The jacket is decorated with two golden dragons on the front, and a 戒 mark on the back. His shoes are golden, and with a leopard print decoration. He also wears a large golden medallion around his neck. He wears sunglasses and carries a cane that has brass knuckles for a handle. In the reveal trailer he is revealed to have two two additional outfits, the first being his formal attire which has a Chinese button shirt beneath and the second being his fighting attire minus the jacket, revealing many black tattoos on his bare chest and back which were originally concealed.

Story

Version 1: 50 years ago, a young boy was caught up in a large scale gang conflict in his hometown in New York City in the United States where he loses his family and his home. After missing for decades, Leroy returns to New York City, now as a seasoned master of martial arts and he's out for revenge.

Version 2: About half a century ago, New York was midst a dark period where gangsters were rampant in the tens of thousands. Bribes to the police and the political world were rampant, no one could stop the gangs' tyranny, and people had to be fully subservient to the gangs. As the gangs expanded their control of the city, the conflict between them escalated, eventually leading to a massive battle involving all the gangs. The streets of New York were instantly turned into a battlefield of hell, fueled by explosions and fire, as bullets flew everywhere, indiscriminately killing anyone regardless of age or gender.

The family of Leroy Smith, then a boy, was also involved in a fierce shootout and all were killed. Leroy, too, is seriously injured and falls into a river, and gets washed away into the sea, but luckily is picked up by a merchant ship and survives. In his fading consciousness, he deeply felt his helplessness and a deep desire for revenge against the gangs.

Leaving America, Leroy traveled around the world as a trader, and in Hong Kong he encountered a martial art called Wing Chun. Leroy, fascinated by its one-on-one strategy of defense and neutralizing the opponent, settled down in Hong Kong to learn the martial art.

And many months have passed... Half a century after what later became known as the Big Apple War (New York incident), New York was still dominated by gangsters who had survived, although their power had diminished. Knowing this, Leroy decides to return to New York to take revenge against the gangs and liberate the city. Fueled by his anger, Leroy single-handedly attacks and destroys them with the strength of a fierce demon.

During this time, he learns from one of the gang leaders that the current Mishima Zaibatsu was behind the large-scale rivalry of half a century ago. Surprised at the fact that a large company currently engaged in the war that has divided the world has been behind it for such a long time, Leroy believes it is the root of all evil and decides to join The King of Iron Fist Tournament hosted by the company.[3][4]

Version 3: Nearly a half-century ago, the city of New York was overrun with countless gangs whose members numbered in the hundreds of thousands. With both the police and politicians in the gangs' pockets, nobody was able to stop their rampage and the general public was left with no choice but to try to survive the chaos.

As the gangs looked to expand their control over the city, it often led to violent clashes between them, which eventually erupted into all-out war. The streets were overtaken by gunfire, resulting in numerous casualties amongst young and old, man and woman alike. Explosions and deadly fires erupted through the city, turning the once vibrant city of New York into a war-torn hellscape.

At the time, a young boy named Leroy Smith lost his entire family to the violence. Leroy was also badly injured by gunfire and fell into a river, eventually getting swept out to sea, where he was rescued by a merchant vessel who took him in. As he drifted in and out of consciousness, Leroy was angry at his own helplessness and harbored a desire for revenge against the ruthless gangs that had taken his family for him.

And so, he left America behind and traveled the world until he came across the fighting art known as Wing Chun in the streets of Hong Kong. Leroy was fascinated by this martial art that was designed to face multiple opponents while using superior combat expertise to render one's attackers powerless. He decided to stay in Hong Kong in order to learn the mysterious fighting style.

Many years passed and eventually, the incident in New York came to be known as the Big Apple War and 50 years later, although weakened compared to their peak, the gangs still controlled much of the city. Upon learning this, Leroy decided to return to New York in order to avenge his family and finally free his city from the endless grip of fear and violence. Taking it upon himself, Leroy struck at the gangs with extreme force, instantly crippling their power and influence.[5]

Gameplay

Leroy demonstrated his fighting moves in his reveal trailers, where he takes down both Lei Wulong and Marshall Law with several punches and heavy blows. He also delivered a flurry of punches and a one-inch punch to Feng Wei, a move later revealed to be his Rage Art.

Leroy's moveset contains many of such fast strikes and flurries of punches, providing him some very effective and varied counter tools. Leroy also has possesses a very strong parry game, making him a very dangerous opponent. These strengths, combined with his moveset's more straightforward execution, make him a more simple to pick up, beginner-friendly character.

Fighting Style

Leroy fights using Wing Chun, a fighting style developed around defensive counters to opponents advances. Wing Chun is characterized by its defensive stance and use of parries and evasion to provide opportunities to land fierce debilitating strikes to opponents vital areas and weak spots.

Like Kazumi Mishima and Devil Kazumi, who can summon their pet tiger or white tiger respectively, Leroy also summons his pet in battle; a female pit bull named Sugar. Sugar is less obedient than Kazumi's tiger, however, and may not attack his opponent depending on whether she decides to follow her master's orders or not. Also, Leroy can utilize his cane as a weapon to beat down his opponents and to launch his special attacks.

Trivia

Leroy is the first new original character to be added via DLC in the game or the series overall, followed by Fahkumram.

Leroy's backstory is similar to Bruce Irvin, another African American male who loses his family young as a result of criminal activity and gets driven into martial arts as a result.

In Leroy's reveal trailer, he is seen defeating Feng Wei and then looking up to the sky during a thunderstorm, reminiscent of how Feng Wei does the same while standing over his defeated master in the Tekken 5 opening movie.

Leroy is one of the few weapon users in the series, utilizing his cane in battle, and only the second character that can summon animals to help them, after (Devil) Kazumi.

Though he is noted to be able to summon Sugar at will, it is noted that there are times when Sugar will refuse to obey orders depending on its mood.

He is the only character who has a move, Master's Lesson, that can be used only once per match, unlike the rest of the weapon user characters, who can use their weapons infinitely.

In Leroy's reveal trailer, it was said that the "Big Apple War" happened 50 years ago. However, this was when Jinpachi Mishima was still head of the Mishima Clan. In his full story which was revealed later, this was changed to the less specific "nearly half a century ago." (Heihachi founded the Mishima Zaibatsu about 44 years before Tekken 7.)